Sparkly Gingerbread
Published Dec. 2, 2020
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus chilling
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
- 3cups/375 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling the dough
- 1teaspoon baking soda
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2teaspoons ground ginger
- 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼teaspoon ground cloves
- ¾cup/165 grams dark brown sugar
- ¾cup/170 grams unsalted butter (1½ stick), at room temperature
- 1large egg
- ½cup/120 milliliters light molasses
- 1teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
- Nonstick cooking spray (optional)
- Royal Icing, for decorating (recipe on NYT Cooking)
- Food coloring, for decorating
- Colored sugar, sprinkles and dragées, for decorating
Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or hand-held electric beaters, beat brown sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg, molasses and fresh ginger, and mix until well combined.
- Step 2
Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.
- Step 3
Divide dough in half and scrape onto two pieces of plastic wrap, wrapping each piece separately into a flat disk. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days.
- Step 4
When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Use parchment paper or nonstick liners to line 3 baking sheets, or lightly grease them with nonstick cooking spray. (You may need to bake the cookies in batches.)
- Step 5
On a clean, lightly floured work surface, roll one disk of dough ⅛-inch thick. Using cookie cutters, cut out all the dough. With a small metal spatula, place the gingerbread cut-outs onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between cookies. Repeat with remaining dough. You can reroll the scraps once. Collect them from both pieces of dough, smush them together into a disk and chill before rerolling again.
- Step 6
Bake small cookies for 8 to 12 minutes, and larger ones for 10 to 15 minutes, or until cookies are firm to the touch and their edges are slightly darker in color. Rotate cookie sheets halfway through for even baking.
- Step 7
Let cookies cool on baking sheets until firm enough to lift, about 5 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
- Step 8
To decorate, thin the royal icing with water until it’s as thick as heavy cream (thinner than you’d use for piping). Divide it into small bowls (or a muffin tin), and use food coloring to tint it different colors. Use a brush to paint the cookies with icing, and, if you like, use toothpicks to apply more icing to make patterns. Sprinkle with colored sugar or other decorations, if you like, while the icing is still wet. Put the decorated cookies on baking sheets to set, then move them to tins or other airtight containers with parchment between the layers.
Private Notes
Comments
Dear Melissa, I haven't baked these cookies yet but I hope to. They sound delicious and look fabulous. I just want to thank you and all your NYT Food sectio colleagues for everything you do. Especially this year, your wonderful recipes and beautiful pictures, delivered with your warm wit and practicality, are such a refuge. The world outside may be filled with pandemic tragedy and political buffoonery and incompetence, but in your kitchen, everything is beautiful, delicious, homey, and nurturing
The final report after baking is this is a nice cookie. Rolled 1/4 thick, its a teeny bit soft in the middle. 1/8 makes a crisp cookie. It would be firm enuf to hang on a tree. I did use blackstrap molasses because i had it, and the family liked the Joy of Cooking batch with blackstrap. Cardamom might be wasted tho, as blackstrap is a strong flavor. Now for the grandkids to decorate them
I found this article about molasses and finally know the difference https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/02/what-is-blackstrap-molasses.html
We rolled between parchment and had no trouble... Though we usually have our house at 64-68* these were so perfect and resilient for a 6 year old to help and cut. Our new yearly recipe!
Melissa always nails it!
I make gingerbread all the time at holidays. Make your dough, divide in portion. Roll out between wax paper and chill in fridge. Remove one piece of wax paper and flour top, put paper back and flip dough over and remove wax paper and cut out! Voila, easy peasy. Scraps roll between wax paper again with a bit of flour.